By Shitile Mbayansa, Abuja
Former heads of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), will have to explain to government what they got and what they remitted to government coffers, when they were in charge of the agencies.
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun said JAMB for the first time in four decades remitted N5billion government. Three billion Naira is still expected from the examination body.
The disparity discovered in the two agencies has been observed in others and Adeosun says they will be investigated.
But insiders say that without prejudice to government investigations and probe, the JAMB fees for 2017 were higher than in the past because an unprecedented 1.7 million persons sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the highest in the history of examinations in the country.
Adeosun said: “The highest amount that JAMB has ever remitted to the consolidated revenue fund before this management was N3billion. This year so far they have done N5billion and the minister of education reporter that they have additional N3billion that they are ready to remit which will take this year’s figure alone to N8billion.
“Now they have not increased their charges nor their fees. So the question that Council members were asking was that where were all these monies before?
“So, the directive was given that we must call those who were the heads of those agencies and similar ones to account and that is what we intend to do.
“To look in some cases, the past management of those agencies and see where those agencies were leaking and to encourage agencies that haven’t done so to continue with efficiencies.
“We did some comparative analysis in June 2014 with oil price of $109 federation allocations was N844 billion and in June 2017 it was down to N318 billion, just to give you an idea of how much income the country has really lost in the last few years.
“So, we are adjusting very strongly and we believe if we continue with this trajectory not only will we stay permanently out of recession but more importantly we will have a positive and growing economy what works for all Nigerians which is our aim.”